Search results

Saponified castor oil in soap is very soluble and helps kickstart the lather from the other saponified oils.

What was your lye concentration and super fat (if any)?

I used to use more water for my HP soap batches, until I started using press and seal plastic between the crockpot lid and the pot - it dramatically cut down on the water evaporation during the cook. My crockpot is one of the cheaper ones, so the lid didn't fit as well, YMMV.

Here's a recipe you can experiment with, note that I use a stronger lye concentration, so it will trace more quickly. I prefer to mould when the batter emulsion is stable, but getting the batter to trace is recommended when you're starting out, to prevent separation of oils and lye in the mould...

I got my LBO from them as well, excellent quality and made a beautiful soap once cured (at least 6 months). I also made a more conventional Bastille soap with LBO and love the creamy feel of the lather. FYI, as you probably know, the LBO is very pungent and hard to mask with scent, so I...

Since you're trying to replicate the Amish Farms soap with some of your own improvements, I would recommend some small batch tests using your latest recipe. Tallow can be drying, but the other ingredients can be used to offset it. 30% is a good value for the tallow to start off with. I tend to...

Is it a general purpose soap? What kind of environment must it perform in, e.g. shower, bath, sink, etc. Your original cleansing value was 17, but now it's 12, did you need the soap to be mild or would you prefer more cleansing action? Your answers can help us with your recipe design.

Songwind's shaving soap thread and Silver Fox's shaving soap recipe are excellent resources. I developed my favourite recipe using those as a reference. I aim for a palmitic + stearic acid profile to total 60% with at least 40% coming from stearic.

I also use 60-75% KOH or all KOH depending on the shaving soap recipe. The KOH makes a soap that is more soluble and easier to work with a shaving brush for lathering. 100% NaOH will work as well, but will require more work to initially work up the lather once moistened. YMMV...

I also seen the same thickening/opacity in my NaOH solution when adding liquid EDTA. It's not unmanageable for me though.

I make a lot of soap and use these stackable bread baskets to cure batches in my soap lab.

Great job dennisn, now you can create the exact recipe you like that works for you. I deliberately made recipes that the B&B forum disagreed with and ended up with something that works wonderfully for myself, friends and family. Comparing my shaving soap with Tabac, which is a favourite of mine...

Psfred is right, castor oil is very soluble and excellent at making bigger bubbles quickly when combined with CO or similar - a characteristic that isn't useful for shaving lather. I never use it and you'll also notice that most if not all commercial shaving soaps don't use it either.

When I'm making shaving soap, I compute enough lye to convert all my oil batch and then add the additional selected butters as super fat once the batch is cooked and zap free. The soapee.com calculator makes that easy as it has a checkbox to compute the 100% lye conversion and then gives the...

It's a percentage of oils. I use soapee.com and it actually computes the correct amount of super fat oils if you select the after cook checkbox. Glycerine is also a percentage of oils, I usually put in 15% if I'm using Stearic Acid.

It can help to inhibit DOS in recipes that are higher in short shelf life oils and/or superfat.

I cribbed a ton of excellent advice from Songwind's shaving soap thread. I now only use KOH and still get a very firm puck after 4 weeks curing. I don't use any castor oil and aim for a Palmitic/Stearic fatty acid profile of around 60%, usually the Stearic is between 48-51% of the profile...

I noticed this in the details in the link you sent: Safety: If pregnant, nursing or under a doctor’s care, consult physician. Discontinue use if skin sensitivity occurs. Avoid contact with eyes. Do not use undiluted on skin. Keep out of reach of children. Do not use on broken skin or on...

Is it an EO or FO (Fragrance Oil) that you're using? Many FO's already have alcohol added to them or use carrier oils that need to be understood for your formulation. Do you have the MSDS sheet for the FO/EO you're using that you can post?

Most of my soaps are made from recipes containing over 25% lard. I superfat very low, since I'm skin sensitive to unsaponified lard and have made many unscented batches for family and friends. I regularly ask for feedback and no one has detected any "piggy" smell in the soap. My nose can detect...